The invention relates to an apparatus and method for feeding and applying pesticide onto animals, particularly wildlife.
Many diseases are transmissible to man and animals by ectoparasites such as ticks. Because some wildlife species, such as white-tailed deer, are capable of propagating and harboring large populations of these ectoparasites, an effective strategy for the prevention of disease transmission should include treatment of animals, including wildlife, for the control of ectoparasites. Yet, the treatment of significant numbers of animals, especially wildlife that are not easily captured or otherwise able to be handled and treated directly, for control of these ectoparasites remains a difficult problem,
In areas where an effort is being made to eradicate ticks, the inability to control ticks on wildlife can be a critical factor to the success of the program. For example, cattle ticks were eradicated from the United States in the 1950's, and a quarantine zone was established along the Texas-Mexico border between Del Rio and Brownsville, Tex. to prevent reinfestation of U.S. cattle herds. Yearly cutbreaks of ticks that occur in the quarantine zone are controlled by dipping of cattle and by vacating infested pastures. However, increased populations of white-tailed deer, elk, exotic deer, antelope and other marginal host animals in the region are complicating the eradication effort, and in some areas have prevented eradication of reinfested premises. For other ectoparasites such as deer ticks, the vectors of Lyme disease, wildlife, and white-tailed deer in particular, are the primary hosts for adult ticks. The ability to control these ticks on deer would therefore be a valuable tool in the management of Lyme disease.